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It’s fast approaching that time of year again when many of us will be unwrapping some socks or ties or something similar, so before we let things get that far why don’t we do something about it like give a few hints to what we would really like? It’s far easier to put on a smile when you open something you really want rather than straining a smile with everyone watching you!!

With this in mind I have put together a list of things that might give you a few ideas.

If you have been really good this year try getting the ultimate rod…..the Hardy Zenith Sintrix…….a truly awesome rod in so many ways, one of the most advanced rods out for years and a real joy to cast and fish with. If that’s too much of a big ask go for a Greys GRXi+, again a lovely rod but not so harsh on the pocket.

To go with the rod I would probably opt for a Vision Koma reel, either the standard model or the cassette version. These reels are amazing value for money and a reliable piece of kit. At the other end of the scale I would go for the Hardy Demon reel, probably the best cassette reel out there.

When it comes to fly lines it never pays to scrimp. At the top of my list for a new floating line would be a Rio Gold closely followed by one of the Snowbee lines. For a sinking line I would look at the Airflo range, they offer a good quality sinking line with a range of densities to cover every eventuality.

If you fancy doing some roving fishing maybe a technical vest is what you should be looking at. Airflo offer a nice one at a great price, similar to the Fishpond range but a fraction of the price.

If you are looking for stocking filler ideas flies are always a good bet. In my opinion the best ones out there are either Ian Barr’s selections for still water or I like the Fulling Mill range for the river. If you haven’t tried these flies yet give them a go, they truly are top class flies tied on quality hooks.

If you don’t already tie flies ask for some kit and give it a go. It’s a great way to while away the winter evenings and an inexpensive gift idea. You can pick up a beginners kit for around £20 and can always ask people for items to add to it.

Failing all these ideas you could always ask for a Neil Keep Fly Fishing gift voucher……the ultimate gift sure to put a smile on anyone’s face at Christmas!!

Whatever you get this year, a Merry Christmas to you all and enjoy your fishing.

Saturday gave me the chance to wet a line and being only twenty minutes from Chew Valley Lake this seemed to be the obvious choice for a few hours sport. As we were in the middle of an Indian summer I opted for a morning session before the sun got too high to put the fish down but wasn’t really expecting it to turn into a long distance fly fishing session.

I drove down to Woodford lodge to grab a permit before driving round to Walley bank next to the sailing club. This is one of my favourite haunts when fishing from the bank having enjoyed some real bonanza sessions there in the past.

Having pulled up in the car park it’s only a short walk to the water’s edge where I was met by totally flat calm water and a sun that was rapidly rising in the sky…….not good!! Not being put off by the scene that met me I proceeded to tackle up keeping one eye on the water for any signs of activity.

The water is still low at the moment as we have had little in the way of rain to top up the summer levels but the weed beds still hugged the margins offering the fish cover and a food larder so things maybe wouldn’t be as bad as they first looked.

I set up with a team of Diawl Bach’s on a floating line and concentrated my casts around the weed beds where I expected to find some fish feeding but after a fruitless hour wandering the bank without a pull or seeing any fish moving it was obvious this tactic wasn’t going to work on the day.

Then I decided to get in a gap in the weed beds and throw a long line as I had started to see a few fish move but they were way out into the lake taking advantage of the cooler, deeper water. First chuck met with a slight pluck on the line as a fish intercepted the flies on the drop, this happened a few more times but once I started the retrieve any interest dried up. It became obvious the fish were out there at distance so I needed a method to hold my flies in the taking zone so I rigged up a team of buzzers under an indicator and cast a full line out and left it all static apart from an ultra slow figure of eight retrieve to take out any slack forming in the line.

After a couple of minutes the indicator slid away and I lifted into the first fish of the day. Two more fish followed that were lost in the weed followed by another one banked…..not bad for a short session in tough conditions.

I know this method isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but sometimes needs must. Personally I don’t mind fishing with an indicator as it takes me back to my childhood days when I would spend hours on the bank mesmerized by the float that bobbed up and down in the water before my eyes.

When it comes to the indicator, there are many different ones on the market but my personal favourite is Loon indicator yarn, I find this to be the most versatile to fish with as you can vary the size of it easily with a pair of scissors to suit the conditions, it’s very sensitive when it comes to spotting takes and is easily moved up and down the leader when varying depth by using a simple loop attachment to the line. It also comes in two colours to suit different light conditions and offers very little air resistance so is a dream to cast compared to some on the market.

Matching the correct weight of fly line to the rod is critical for the rod blank to work to its full potential when making a cast. If the line is too light or too heavy for the rod you will without doubt struggle to cast.

To make sure you match the line correctly just look at the rod blank near the handle and you will find some numbers after the rod length telling you which weight of line it was manufactured to cast. These numbers are referred to as the AFTM scale (Association of Fishing Tackle Manufacturers). The number on the rod may simply say 7 weight or may read as #7 or even 6/7 giving you two line weight options. For the beginner I would always advise opting for the heavier line weight in this instance as you will be able to load the rod easier and have a greater feel for the cast through the rod blank.

Fly lines have what is known as a profile, the two most common being Weight Forward and Double Taper, both are abbreviated in fly fishing world to WF or DT.

The WF lines are most common these days purely because they are the easiest to cast and achieve distance with. These start with a thin running line on the reel end, then progress into a thicker heavier section of around ten yards in length towards the end of the line before tapering down thinner again at the very tip of the line to give good presentation. Because most of the lines weight is at the front this enables easy “loading of the rod” (bending the rod) and gives good distance when shooting a line.

DT lines are the same thickness throughout their length and taper down in size on the last couple of feet at either end. In the right hands these lines offer better presentation of the line onto the water and are better suited to river fishing where you may encounter wild fish that are “spooky”. These lines have the added bonus that if they wear out on one end you can simply turn them round on the reel and use the other end as the profile is exactly the same.

Finally the “density” of the line is how it sits in the water and this can vary from floating on the surface to a fast sinking line with a sink rate of 8 inches per second to get your flies down deep fast. As a beginner always start with a floating line as these are easier to cast than the sinking lines, then progress to sinking lines as required as your casting improves and to be honest most of my own fishing is done with a floating line anyway as usually the fish are in the top layers searching for food, I only usually turn to the sinking lines in extreme conditions of hot bright sunshine or very cold conditions when the fish may drop deeper in the water.

Yesterday’s tuition session with James was a really enjoyable day despite being a day of very tough fishing.

His wife had given him a voucher for a day with me as a present last Christmas and after exchanging a few emails we opted for a day at Burton Springs. 

James had coarse and sea fished over the years but was keen to get into fly fishing especially after talking to some of his friends from Cornwall who had told him that they target saltwater species on the fly and considering he is based in the forces on the Cornish coast, once he had learned the basics, he had miles of fishing right on his doorstep so no excuses not to get out there and do some!

I arrived at the fishery early morning and the temperature was already rising, not good for trout fishing although there was a bit of cloud cover but the great thing with Burton Springs is that you always have the option to switch to one of the other lakes and target carp on fly if conditions are not favourable for trout.

James arrived around 9.30am, he’d driven up from Cornwall the day before for a night out in Bristol with friends then back down to Burton Springs early on the morning and then he was driving back to Cornwall after our session on the water…..some serious miles!

On arriving at the fishery we had a coffee and a chat about what we would be doing and James informed me that he was a helicopter pilot…….music to my ears! He would surely have good hand eye coordination wouldn’t he? He did not disappoint when it came to the casting, after learning the roll cast he was soon onto the overhead and in no time was shooting line out across the lake and beast of all it was really easy teaching him the mechanics of the cast.

Apart from the casting we went through all of the kit and what it does in the morning session then after lunch I showed James how to make up some tapered leaders followed by a session on entomology and watercraft. This left us time for a fishing session which after some discussion we both decided to target the carp due to the now stifling heat.

Unfortunately the coarse lake was packed with anglers but Adam the fishery manager said that the specimen lake only had two anglers on it and we were welcome to give that a go but warned us that it would not be easy as this is heavily fished and the carp have seen it all!!We headed of armed with a rod and a bag of dog biscuits and found ourselves a swim on a point opposite a promising looking island.

The first thing to do was to try and get the fish feeding on the surface, not too hard I thought as I had seen a couple of fish moving in amongst the reeds on the island. I proceeded to catapult out a few pouches of biscuits over to the edge of the island….this was followed by every feathered water bird you could imagine from a 3 mile radius descending on my offerings and polishing them off! I scratched my head then realised it must have been because there was only two other anglers on the lake for them to get a free feed off of on the day so we had attracted the whole lakes population of wildfowl. A plan was needed so I fed a bay to my left with the biscuits so diverting the birds away from the island where the fish seemed to be. It was hard work, three pouches to my left and one to the island in that ratio to keep them away.

We never did get the fish feeding properly in the session and found the only way we could get a take was if the fly was put to within inches of the reeds, the fish just did not seem to want to leave the cover of the vegetation. James managed three good takes from fish but his strike met with no resistance, just a slack line flying back towards us but given time I’m sure he will get his timing right and soon be into some fish but the main thing is now he has all the core skills so he can go away and take which ever fly fishing avenue he so likes.